Do I have to take Synthroid?

The thyroid story: When I was 19, I woke up one morning with a lump as big as a golf ball on my neck. It hadn't been there the night before - I know, because I'd worn a tight choker-style necklace and it fit just fine, but wouldn't meet around my neck the next morning. Boom, lump overnight. I'd actually never been to a doctor except for stitches at this point, but I took this seriously and had a fine needle aspiration and radioactive uptake scan. I was home from college for the summer and returned to school before I got the results, and because of an error by the receptionist (she pulled the wrong file when I called to get the results: this was before the days of HIPAA and you could still get results over the phone!) I thought I had a benign goiter that would go away with some iodine.
Well, a few months later I ended up in surgery, having a 55 mm encapsulated tumor removed, along with most of my thyroid. I recovered well, and took levothyroxine for about a year. One day I read about thyroid regeneration in the young and decided to quit taking my levothyroxine. I did, and my next blood test results were in the normal range, although my TSH was significantly higher than the last test. Nonetheless, I stayed off levothyroxine for years.

Look at that brachydactyl thumb!

Success?
I thought so. Unfortunately it looks like I'm back on the stuff. I returned to my doctor a few weeks ago after my hubby urged me to because he was sick of cleaning up hair balls all over the floor. My steady hair loss plus dermatological changes made me think my thyroid was hypoactive, and after I got my blood work back I found out that it is. Am I disappointed? Well, yes. I don't like taking medications at all. I'm bad at it: I forget, I eat right afterwards, and I forget to get my refills. Of course I'd rather not need to take anything because I'd rather be naturally healthy! But I'm going to take it. Hopefully it will combat the symptoms mentioned above, along with the I-don't-want-to-get-up lethargy.
How about you - have you ever had to take medication but you didn't want to?
Are you good about taking a daily dose? As a pharmacist, I should be, but I'm not. I need to hear your view to give me better insight to my patients!